How to say “Yes” for Human Rights: 2015 WHRCF
World Human Rights Cities Forum 2015
The 2015 World Human Rights Cities Forum (WHRCF) invites the Gwangju community to help transform cities around the world into more human rights-centered locations. Gwangju residents have also received an opportunity to be more involved and committed to advancing human rights through the 2015 WHRCF Discussion Groups.
Created in 2010, the WHRCF provides a centralized location in Gwangju, where global representatives can gather, learn, discuss and create documents, signifying their commitment and dedication toward making human rights a global reality. This year’s theme, “Towards a Global Alliance of Human Rights Cities for All, II” will build on the foundation that was laid at last year’s meeting.
The conference held at the Kimdaejung Convention Center, will be organized by the Gwangju International Center and will be supported by multiple Gwangju organizations. With festivities from Friday, May 15 to Monday, May 18, Korean and International residents will be welcome to attend one, some or all days, with Korean and English as the Forum’s two main languages.
The 2015 WHRCF Discussion Groups exist so all Gwangju residents have the ability to voice their opinions, learn about global human rights issues and advocate for groups that don’t have an opportunity to advocate for themselves.
To participate, residents can assemble their own discussion groups of five to seven members among friends or request placements among the already-created discussion groups. All one has to do is to fill out an application, attend select Forum sessions and be willing to help and support the writing of her/his discussion group’s findings. The discussion groups will have the privilege of creating documents, showing the group’s expectations and findings before and after the Forum.
Each discussion group will create their own Expectations Proposal and a Reflections Proposal. Templates will be given to the discussion groups, and a writing guide will show how anyone can easily compose thoughts on paper. Working with other residents, the mental labor and writing become easier. The dialogue within each group will help members process what they learned individually at forum meetings.
The WHRCF sessions include a wide variety of intriguing subjects. Each of the available plenary sessions will give discussion group members an introduction and well-rounded glimpse of what cities are accomplishing to benefit human rights. All visiting human rights experts, government officials, analysts, non-profit organizers and other representatives will be attending these three sessions before presenting and participating in specialized thematic workshops.
The thematic workshops will provide group members with specific approaches for how universal human rights can be achieved. This year’s thematic workshops will cover a wide variety of topics including the differently-abled, women, children, the elderly, migrants’ rights, the environment, the social economy and state violence. Discussion group members can attend any of the eight workshops, meet with their discussion groups later to present their findings and discuss what they have learned all together.
The program aims to educate participants and observers and by its conclusion everyone involved will have a better philosophical and practical understanding of human rights issues in the world. In addition, each discussion group member will receive a gift for his/her time and dedication to this forum. The most insightful and provocative discussion groups will also have the opportunity to win a cash prize.
The Gwangju International Center is pleased to offer and organize this opportunity for anyone interested in participating. The deadline for applying is Monday, April 20 at 11 p.m.
For more information, to ask questions and for a discussion group application, please e-mail: whrcf2015dg@gmail.com. For more information on the World Human Rights Forum 2015, please see the next page.